The anti-Trump opposition to President Donald Trump has gotten so loony that even Never Trumper David Frum is now worried that their crazed rantings will undermine their case against Trump. The senior editor of The Atlantic expressed his concerns in that periodical today with The Anti-Trump Recoil Goes Too Far:
...just emerged from a 36-hour social-media rage-spasm against Attorney General Jeff Sessions for merely referencing these incontrovertible and familiar facts. “The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement,” Sessions said in a speech.
“Do you know anyone who says ‘Anglo-American heritage’ in a sentence?” Senator Brian Schatz tweeted in response. “What could possibly be the purpose of saying that other than to pit Americans against each other? For the chief law enforcement officer to use a dog whistle like that is appalling.” That storm has subsided, as social-media storms so often do. I sense that some of the participants now feel a little sheepish about the whole thing. But maybe it’s worth talking about it a little longer, because there are some authentically valuable lessons to be learned from the episode.
Well, as Matt Philbin highlighted in yesterday's Newsbusters, Brian Schatz finally learned what is on his own state's flag.
This is Hawaii’s flag. pic.twitter.com/h6ebCg7puR
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 13, 2018
Frum returns to rubbing his worry beads about anti-Trump nuttiness of which he includes the silly Haitian antics of Conan O'Brien:
But if the recoil is powerful enough, it can propel those feeling the recoil to extremes where they would never have voluntarily traveled. Taking offense at mention of the Anglo-American legal heritage is merely absurd. For Conan O’Brian to rebuke Trump’s “shithole” comments by posing with a tropical drink in the aquamarine water of a Haitian resort is to pass from the absurd to the insensitively cruel. Fewer than half of Haitians have reliable access to water, the World Bank reports; almost 10,000 have died of cholera since 2010.
More deep rub of the worry beads from Frum who is sounding close to despair over how the anti-Trump fire breathers can discredit opposition to Trump:
The most hopeful possible outcome of the Trump presidency would be that it jolts America to its better self—that it reaffirms democratic norms, recalls Americans to civility and character, and reinvigorates the political center. The most dangerous alternative outcome would be that Trump’s pendulum swing to one kind of illiberal extreme generates momentum for an extreme swing in the opposite direction.
...It’s a supremely important question for the future whether anti-Trump energies restore moderation—or instead inspire counter-radicalization. The overheated reaction to the Sessions non-gaffe demonstrated how the question can be answered wrong. Deep breaths and calmer second thoughts, please.
However, before Frum chastises the anti-Trumpers, perhaps he should focus on the crazed outbursts of his fellow Never Trumpers such as Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin. I challenge anybody to take a look at the many Newsbusters articles about Rubin and fail to conclude that she has already joined the Butterfly Net Brigade.
As for Frum himself, he might want to take a hard look in the mirror. Examples of Frum falling off the edge includes, 'You're a Bad Parent If You Have a Gun in the House', suggesting with no proof that tennis star Serena Williams may be doping, and obsessing over how many scoops of ice cream Trump eats.
